We live in times where trusting people is awfully hard. And naturally, we’d all rather do business with people we trust.

This month, we’re publishing Purcell Communications’ report on Rebuilding Trust through Communications Fundamentals. In it, President Kylelane Purcell cites the Edelman Trust Barometer– an excellent resource for understanding how people perceive large institutions. Astonishingly, the Barometer indicates that college educated, media-aware people now view the financial industry with something close to “active distrust.”

How do we reconcile this? One thing Purcell has discovered is that being trustworthy doesn’t buy you a lot if you can’t communicate in a way that builds trust. It’s a subject Kylelane cares a great deal about, so she’s put time and research into how you can use communication to create, sustain, or enhance trust.